Six To Celebrate 2011

The Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood contains an astonishing number of architecturally, historically and culturally significant structures, including rowhouses, mansions, religious buildings, and schools dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Although there are currently two designated historic districts in the area, the vast majority of Bedford Stuyvesant’s architectural splendor is unprotected. The recently-formed Bedford Stuyvesant Society for Historic Preservation, a coalition of concerned neighborhood block associations, and the landmarks committee of Brooklyn Community Board 3 are working to correct that.

One of Manhattan’s oldest thoroughfares, the Bowery, stretching from Cooper Square to Chatham Square, has a fascinatingly rich history which has left an equally rich built environment. From a fashionable shopping and residential neighborhood at the end of the 18th century, to a bustling center of dry goods, hardware and other specialty stores, to an entertainment mecca and later the notorious “skid row” in the 20th century, the Bowery was always a part of the city’s culture, for better or for worse. In recent years, the mix of historic structures along the street has been threatened by high-rise hotel development. The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors was formed to help save the remaining historic buildings on the Bowery and to celebrate the avenue’s important history.

The Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanusnominated the neighborhood surrounding the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. This unique area largely retains its industrial character, with some of the businesses dating back more than 75 years. In recent years, plans for the canal have conflicted with the existing character of the neighborhood and some significant industrial structures have been demolished for out-of-scale, out of character, speculative development. However, with the canal’s recent designation as a federal Superfund site, there is now an opportunity to successfully advocate for the preservation of the industrial character of the area and retention of significant structures associated with this history.

Inwood, at the very northern tip of Manhattan, combines striking geography of hills and views with notable architecture that includes significant Art-Deco apartment buildings and Tudor Revival houses and unique features such as the 215th Street Steps, the Seaman-Drake Arch and the historic Isham Park. However very little of the neighborhood’s historic buildings are protected or even officially acknowledged.Volunteers for Isham Parkis working to identify and protect the neighborhood’s landmarks.

Jackson Heights is New York City’s first planned neighborhood of “garden apartments” and “garden homes”. These airy, light-filled residences, combined with commercial, institutional and recreational buildings, provided an attractive environment for middle-class families to live in when it was developed in the early 20th century, and it still does today. The Jackson Heights Beautification Group , established in 1988, is seeking to extend the boundaries of the existing Jackson Heights Historic District, landmarked in 1993, to better reflect and protect the actual historic neighborhood.

The residential area surrounding Mount Morris Park in Harlem includes elegant rowhouses and larger apartment buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Romanesque Revival, Neo-Grec and Queen Anne styles. The Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association, a well established civic group, is seeking to expand the boundaries of the current Historic District, which does not adequately represent the significant architecture of this Harlem neighborhood.

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The Historic Districts Council is the advocate for all of New York City's historic neighborhoods. HDC is the only organization in New York that works directly with people who care about our city's historic neighborhoods and buildings. We represent a constituency of over 500 local community organizations.